Where Are the Children? Report of a National Survey of Out-of-State Placement Arrangements.

New York State Council of Voluntary Child Care Agencies, NY.

The purpose of this survey was to identify procedures and practices of child welfare and related agencies of each state in the United States regarding out-of-state placement of children and reception of non-resident children for therapeutic, educational, physical and psychiatric services. An overall view emphasizing functions and responsibilities of state governments rather than specific statistical data was sought. The survey instrument (a two-part questionnaire) was not intended to be an evaluative research instrument. Forty of the 50 states responded. Major findings are summarized. Twenty-eight of the states reported they do not have a central unit that makes evaluations of out-of-state facilities. Limited information indicated that "emotional disturbance" was the most frequent classification of children placed out-of-state with "socially maladjusted" the second most frequent classification. The major conclusion of the study is that very few states have centralized information about either their procedures for placing children out-of-state or the children placed out. The same is true for non-resident children received. Placement coordination, evaluating and monitoring, centralization of approved facility registries and improved record keeping are among the recommendations made. Questionnaire and results are appended. (Author/RH)